Enhanced light extraction of InGaN LEDs with photonic crystals grown on p-GaN using selective-area epitaxy and nanospherical-lens photolithography

Abstract

We report a new method for the fabrication of two-dimensional photonic crystal (PhC) hole arrays to improve the light extraction of GaN-based light-emitting diodes (LEDs). The PhC structures were realized using nanospherical-lens photolithography and the selective-area epitaxy method, which ensured the electrical properties of the LEDs through leaving the p-GaN damage-free. At a current of 350 mA, the light output power of LEDs with PhC hole arrays of 450 nm and 600 nm in diameter with the same lattice period of 900 nm were enhanced by 49.3% and 72.2%, respectively, compared to LEDs without a PhC. Furthermore, the LEDs with PhC hole structures showed an obviously smaller divergent angle compared with conventional LEDs, which is consistent with the results of finite-difference time-domain simulation.